Michael Brissenden presents AM Monday to Friday from 8:00am on ABC Local Radio and 7:10am on Radio National. Join Elizabeth Jackson for the Saturday edition at 8am on Local Radio and 7am on Radio National.

Among them was Andrew Gibbs from Newcastle, who's in the middle of his holiday in the Territory.

ANDREW GIBBS: It's been a bit of dampener on our holiday, we're only here for a couple of weeks, but it's exciting, I reckon. It's not every day that you get to be a part of a shelter relief and the build up, and the expectation of what might happen.

So we've got the things we had with us, we've got our tents, sleeping bag, all those things that go with it. I bought some food today, so that should keep us going for a few days.

LINDY KERIN: Bronwyn Smith and her three children sought refuge in an underground car park turned cyclone shelter.

BRONWYN SMITH: My house wouldn't last (laughs). Yeah, I just wanted to get out and make sure the kids are alright.

LINDY KERIN: And David Green from interstate was doing his best to prepare for the onslaught of Cyclone Monica.

DAVID GREEN: Well, I've never really been through a cyclone before because I'm from Hobart and I'm just studying up here, but um, yeah, no, it's going to be interesting.

LINDY KERIN: How long do you think you'll stay here for?

DAVID GREEN: Well we hopefully should be allowed back to where we live probably on Wednesday, late Wednesday, we hope, if it all goes well. Maybe Thursday, but we'll see what happens really.

LINDY KERIN: Cyclone Monica is considered to be the most intense storm ever to strike northern Australia. It crossed the Territory coastline at about seven o'clock last night, just west of Maningrida on the Arnhem Land coast.

Among the 2,500 or so residents there is Margaret Mulvey, who described a terrifying scene.

MARGARET MULVEY: The wind has just gone from ferocious to just… I've never seen anything like this. I've never witnessed, and I've lived here a little while in the territory, but this… all the trees, the branches are denuded.

As I look up outside I can see the tops of the trees and mainly the trees are just almost at right angles. They're just leaning down on the ground and there's water flooding up onto… we're just about a few metres down from the sea and there's water coming up the (inaudible).

BERT HOFER: At Milingimbi water was lapping at some low-lying houses, due to tidal surge. At Maningrida the school, which is being used as shelter had sustained some damage. Most buildings in the community were suffering some level of leakage. And one clad home had collapsed off its stilts.

(Sound of sticky tape being unwound)

LINDY KERIN: Shop owners in the Darwin CBD have taped up their windows in preparation for the strong winds.

For many residents like William Oldhouse, it's not the first time to face such a destructive cyclone.

He survived Cyclone Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve in 1974.

WILLIAM OLDHOUSE: I know what to expect. There's a lot of things that I can remember about Tracy that I just, you know, wish to forget. And I just hope that the cyclone doesn't happen.